Charlie Brown Christmas Special: An Inside Job – The Atlantic
Standing in the wings of the school auditorium, where he has the impossible task of directing his friends in a Nativity play, Charlie Brown cries out in anguish: Isn t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?
And then, in his calm, reassuring voice, Linus says, Sure, Charlie Brown. I can tell you what Christmas is all about. And he walks to the middle of the stage and begins. You never know if Linus believes the words he recites, or if they were just so many lines to be memorized and that s Linus all over.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding
in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them,
and the glory of the Lord shone round about them:
and they were sore afraid
From the minute Linus starts talking, I feel like I m holding my breath. It feels as though I m being called back to something, as though finally I ve been reunited with something elemental.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people
It s ridiculous, it s television corporate America, Coca-Cola. But: Fear not. On that empty stage, in that small boy s voice, it has a spellbinding power over me.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
This is 17th-century prose describing something that supposedly took place 1,600 years earlier. So why does it feel like news from the front?
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.